Page 47 of By the Time You Read This (Raisa Susanto #3)

Chapter Thirty-Five

Delaney

Day Seven

Delaney left Roan of the Carolina mountains at the motel and wondered if she’d ever see him again.

Part of her thought that, if she didn’t, it might be because she would simply leave town without checking in on him.

Part of her wondered if it was because she didn’t have that much longer to live.

That had always been a possibility, once she’d received that first letter.

Now she had to finish what she’d started.

Roan might think her foolish, he might think she’d fallen for St. Ivany’s scheme, but Delaney knew now how right she’d been.

Gabbi had inserted herself into the investigation, not the other way around.

Delaney touched the knife at her thigh and realized it wasn’t enough. She pulled off to the side of the road into town. There wasn’t much traffic, so she simply popped the trunk of her beaten-up, but now sort of beloved, car and found her go-bag. At the bottom was a gun that couldn’t be traced back to her.

Let’s play a game . . .

She dropped it into her pocket, right next to the AirTag that she’d found in her purse the morning after she’d slept with Roan that first time. She’d disabled it by taking the battery out, but she’d kept it in case it could come in handy later. Perhaps as her own little panic button, if she found herself in a situation she couldn’t get out of.

Finally, she pulled out her laptop and brought it around to the driver’s seat with her.

She needed to try to get in front of Gabbi.

Delaney’s research had been sound. She had lurked on every forum or social media site that hosted conversations about Isabel.

Gabbi was smart and callous and overly invested in Isabel. She pictured both herself and Isabel as vigilantes, not realizing that was antisocial behavior worthy of a diagnosis. The trauma in her past relationship had solidified the rigid moral superiority that had been born into her, and turned it outward. She looked at herself as the only person in the community willing to dole out justice—the way she told herself Isabel had.

Delaney was good at this, she knew she was. It hadn’t taken long for her to land on Gabriela Cruz after that. And everything about her speech patterns, her posts, her videos, led Delaney to believe she’d been swept up in Isabel.

The thing that had cemented it all for Delaney, though, was that Gabriela claimed she had actually spoken to Isabel. No one else in the community could say that.

Gabbi didn’t make it well known that she had—for obvious reasons now. But she was a bragger; she couldn’t help but tell her inner circle of online friends. Just as she had when the police had used her to try to “catch” Delaney.

After that, Delaney was convinced.

Not only was she incredibly dangerous but she was escalating.

Gabbi would have a next target.

Delaney could call St. Ivany and join forces. After all, Delaney hadn’t killed Emily Logan. St. Ivany might try to arrest her, but Delaney could at least make her case against Gabriela.

But Delaney didn’t actually have any evidence. Why would St. Ivany—and Raisa—take Delaney’s word on it, when Raisa thought she was no better than Isabel?

If they trusted Gabriela, Delaney would have to offer something real.

Like a confession.

Or she would need to stop Gabriela in the act.

Delaney opened her laptop and pulled up the screenshots she’d saved from Gabbi’s various postings across different sites. One of the most common themes of her messages was about how much she hated people who had claimed their loved one’s death was Isabel’s fault with no actual proof.

Several times, she cited a woman named Essi Halla. Apparently, she had a book coming out soon, and it had been enough to send Gabbi into a full-on tailspin that had freaked out even some of her most devout followers.

Halla sounded familiar, and as soon as Delaney pulled up Isabel’s full victim list, she realized why.

Mikko Halla hadn’t made it into the official charges, but there he was. A bona fide victim of Isabel’s.

Delaney laughed at the idea that the honor should come with some kind of sticker for all their loved ones to wear.

It was funny, wasn’t it, that Gabbi had focused so much attention on Essi, only for her to have a valid reason to write a book about the experience?

Still, Gabbi didn’t know that. Delaney was the only living person who now had the full list.

She pulled out her phone.

“Do you know Essi Halla?” she asked when Roan picked up.

“Yeah, of course,” Roan said.

Delaney closed her eyes and breathed out. “Do you have contact information for her?”

“I have her phone number,” Roan said slowly. “But I should probably ask why you want it.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Delaney said. “It’s important. She’s in danger.”

“Danger?” Roan asked, his voice breaking. “Goddamn it, Delaney, just go to the police.”

“What’s Essi’s phone number?”

She had never really had anyone whipped before, but she thought Roan might be on the verge of being so. He rattled off the digits with only a breath more of hesitation. “Thank you.”

“Delaney—”

She hung up on him, and punched in Essi’s phone number.

It went to voicemail, as expected. No one picked up unexpected calls from strangers these days. She sent a text next.

It’s Delaney Moore—you might know me as Lana Parker. I’m going to call again and you’re going to pick up

“I don’t like being told what to do,” Essi said, though she’d answered on the first ring. She was too eager not to, just as Delaney expected from her online presence.

She was making her money off Delaney’s family—she would sure as hell seize the opportunity to talk to the elusive middle sister.

“I don’t know why you think I would care,” Delaney shot back.

Essi laughed. “Okay, fair enough. What do you want?”

“Where are you?” Delaney asked.

“I’m not just going to give my location to a stranger, especially with your sister sniffing around too close to my personal affairs,” Essi said. Her voice went tight, suspicious. “Is that why you’re calling?”

“Raisa,” Delaney murmured. Of course, it always came back to Raisa. “Why is she after you?”

“You tell me.”

With that, Delaney could sense she was losing Essi.

“I haven’t even talked to her in months,” Delaney said. “I’m calling because I think you’re in danger from the person who killed Emily Logan.”

“Why would I be in danger?” Essi asked slowly.

“Where are you?”

There was a beat of silence, but apparently curiosity won out. It usually did; it had killed the cat, after all.

“I’m on a boat in the harbor,” she said. “Your sister thinks I left, but I just switched to a different yacht.”

No way would someone like Essi leave town in the midst of all this chaos.

“But there are tons of police here,” she continued. “So I’m pretty sure I’m safe from whatever murderer you’ve dreamed up.”

Of course the police were there, Delaney realized. The “suicide” had been at the harbor. “What is your boat called?”

“ Nacho Boat ,” Essi said dryly. “I kid you not.”

Delaney stared into the middle distance as part of her soul died a little at that. Then she shook it off. “I’m going to come to you.”

“I take it you don’t want a police greeting,” Essi said, and Delaney realized only then that she was putting a lot of trust in this stranger. Up until now, she’d been counting on the fact that she was a rare commodity for Essi, but depending on her personality, she might very well view calling the cops as the smarter bet for something dramatic to happen.

“I’d appreciate it if they weren’t there, correct,” Delaney said stiffly, trying to listen for any deception in Essi’s voice.

But it came out as neutral when she said, “Okay, well, I’m here. Slip twenty-seven.”

Delaney almost hung up before she realized she was falling for a logical trap. Gabriela hadn’t talked to Essi this morning. She wouldn’t know Essi had switched boats. “What was your other boat? The one you were staying on before?”

“ Big Deck Energy , slip thirteen. Why?”

“No reason,” Delaney murmured.

She hung up and jammed the keys in the ignition. Someone in complete control of themselves wouldn’t try to sneak on a boat in the middle of a busy police scene in order to try to kill someone.

But she had no doubt that Gabbi was going to try to do just that.